Though Frank Tripucka has his number retired, I must still vote with my heart and my heart says that Lionel Taylor is the only reason Tripucka had any success in Denver. The dude had almost 200 catches over a two year span in a day when the all-pro wide receivers would normally catch 60-70 balls. That kind of production deserves the attention of the Hall of Fame, but alas, Taylor played his entire career in the AFL and retired early due to the wear and tear on his body from being the focus of double and even triple coverage on the hapless Broncos teams of the 1960’s.

Lionel Taylor set one record that stood for decades. And it took a league expansion to 16 games in a season to break it. The record was for the most catches in a six year span. The record was 503, Sterling Sharpe broke it nearly thirty years later, yet had 14 extra games to break it in. In any case, I made my pitch for Lionel Taylor’s induction into the Hall of Fame last year…but my feelings remain the same.

I dug out some brief bio’s to help me decide:
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Austin Gonsoulin of Baylor University was the original Denver Bronco, the first player selected for the team in the 1960 season.
        By the end of his Bronco career, he was the all-time American Football League interception leader with 43. He made the first interception in AFL history, in the first AFL game against the Patriots. He had seven interceptions in his first three games, and his 11 pickoffs in 1960 are still a Denver club record.
   Gonsoulin shares the team record for interceptions in a game with four, a feat he accomplished Sept. 18, 1960 at Buffalo. Gonsoulin was an All-American Football League choice in 1960, 1962 and 1963. His amazing durablity and toughness enabled him to start 61 consecutive games at one point in his career. He was selected to the second team, All-Time All-AFL. Gonsoulin was also the captain of his college team at Baylor.
.
 A member of the
American Football League Hall of Fame
   
 .
 For the first six years of existence of the American Football League, one man led the league in receptions each year: Lionel Taylor from New Mexico Highlands University, where he had starred in basketball and track, and made all-conference wide receiver in 1956 and 1957. Taylor is second in all-time receptions (543) for the Denver Broncos, and is their all-time leading receiver in yardage (6,872). Taylor was the Broncos’ team Most Valuable Player in 1963, 1964 and 1965, and an American Football League All-Star in 1961, 1962 and 1965. Taylor was the first professional football receiver ever to make one hundred receptions in a single season (1961), and he accomplished that feat in only 14 games. He had four seasons with over 1,000 yards receiving, and averaged 84.7 catches from 1960 to 1965, at the time the highest six-year total in professional football history. He finished his career with the Houston Oilers, as the AFL’s all-time reception leader with 567.
 

 
  
 A member of the
American Football League
Hall of Fame

Both members of the
American Football League Hall of Fame

I can’t decide

I cant say any of these guys are real hall of fame bonafides. They were good players on horrbile Bronco teams. From 1960-67 Denver won over 5 games once (1962). the other times 4 ,3, 2,2,4,4, and 3. Thats 22 wins in the years 1960-67 (not counting 1962). Taylor while he was good and was the first wr to catch 100 in a season was not what you would call a dangerous player. Look he was the only threat and teams would let him nickle and dime them knowing when push came to shove they would stop the Denver offense. Jackson could have been a hofer but was hampered by knee injuries. I fell there are more deserving players from the 70’s and 80’s who are hall worthy, but only two players who started their careers in the 60’s for Denver are hall worthy (Little and Billy Thompson). This is probably not going to be popular here, but thats what i think. Regardless of what we feel about the players the team was pitiful. Also Charley Johnson wasnt nothing more than a journeyman QB, but he was pivital to the Broncos new found success in 1973-74.

Rich jackson was just unlucky that he played in an era when severe knee injuries were career enders. The same injury to day and he would have been back on the field in 6 months.

But when you are one of the people responsible for a rule change in the NFL, you know he had some influence on the game. He had the most vicous head slap of any defensive player in the game. He is one of the primary players that pushed Pro football to outlaw the move. It had been around a long time, but Jackson took it to new levels.

I think if you look at Taylor’s average yards per catch and season total yards, you would see that he caught far more than just dink and dunk passes. He was an exceptional route runner and would catch anything that got near him. He battled for the ball and if he played in this game now, he would still be a premier reciever.

I couldn’t decide either. But I finally settled on Paul Smith because he played at such a high level, so consistantly and for so long. Not only that, but he was so low key about it and really was one of those special figures who gave back to the team by selflessly teaching the yoiunger players everything he knew.

Really, the world is a better place for having some one like Paul Smith in it.